


Take My Breath Away

by xoma_c



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: First Kiss, Insecure Steve, Jealous Steve, M/M, Mutual Pining, School Dances
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-09
Updated: 2018-03-06
Packaged: 2019-03-15 19:05:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13619763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xoma_c/pseuds/xoma_c
Summary: Billy's got some skanky freshman grinding on him on the dance floor. Steve doesn't like it.Inspired by the song Berlin- Take my Breath Away





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> _Watching every motion_   
>  _In my foolish lover's game_   
>  _On this endless ocean_   
>  _Finally lovers know no shame_   
>  _Turning and returning_   
>  _To some secret place inside_   
>  _Watching in slow motion_   
>  _As you turn around and say…_

“HELLOOO, EARTH TO STEVE?!”

That godawful nasally voice jolted Steve back in to reality. He turned to the side and saw Tommy’s freaky ass hopping around him like some hype man. They were at the school dance. _Take my Breath away_ was booming through out the entire gymnasium. 

“What do you want..” he said flatly. 

“I’ve been calling you like 10 times dude” Tommy had the same stupid sneer that was permanently stuck on his face. “What the hells got you so distracted anyways”. 

The pesky idiot then traced the pathway of where Steve eyes had been gazing at. “Why you staring at Hargrove?”

 _Aw man, was it that obvious?_ “I ain’t staring at Hargrove” Steve grunted. “Now get the hell away from me”. 

Billy was dancing with some blonde chick who was most likely a freshman judging by the over-the-top attire she had on. A neon pink dress that barely covered her ass, 6 inch heels, and a face caked with makeup. She looked like she belonged in a strip club more than a school dance. Ok. He was being a little harsh. She didn't look old enough to be in a strip club. More like a shitty teen pageant contest. 

Steve was just about to ask Sally Baker to the dance a week ago, but he decided _fuck it._ He’ll just go with the flow and see what pops up. Fast forward, here he was sitting on the bleachers all alone watching all the pathetic losers of Hawkins High grinding on each other. Alright...maybe _he_ was the pathetic one. 

Tommy clasped his hand on Steve’s shoulder, the guy clearly had no sense of when to fuck off. “Yo, you’ll never guess who just told Carol she wanted to give you a-“ then he did a blow job gesture with his hands.

“Don’t know, don’t care” the taller boy replied. 

“Sally Baker!” Tommy screeched out, as if it was the best news in the world. Steve started walking away. 

“Hello, are you hearing me?” He then pulled Steve back towards him. “ _SALLY BAKER._ She wants to suck your dick. And if you ain’t gonna take her up on it, then there seriously must be something wrong with you”. 

Steve sighed. “Where is she?” 

“Atta boy” then Tommy grabbed him by the shoulder and led him towards the dance floor. There she was, Sally Baker. One of the hot shot juniors that every other guy in school talked about trying to score with. Did she really want to suck his dick? Didn’t know she was that easy. 

“Hi.” Steve muttered.

“Hey _Steveee_ ” she chimed. “I’m really glad you decided to hop on the dance floor. You know, a guy like you doesn’t have to be so hungover on somebody else”.

Steve perked up, “What?” 

“You know, it’s kind of obvious Steve, you’re still not over Nancy.”

“uhh-“

“That’s alright, by the time i’m done with you, you’ll be like _Nancy who?_ ”. Then she started cackling like some sheep on steroids. Dammit, he's going to get nightmares about that laugh tonight. He couldn’t believe he used to want this chick in 10th grade. 

That awful Berlin song was still playing and Steve wished it would be over already so a fast track can start. He hated slow-dancing, but more-so, he hated knowing Billy was slow-dancing ten meters away from him with some skanky freshman. Sally started pulling his head towards hers and Steve’s first instinct was to move back. She looked a little puzzled, but then proceeded to do it again. This time Steve gave in, because he was feeling too miserable to continue protesting for the rest of the evening. Their foreheads touched, then she proceeded to nip at his neck. As they moved with the song, Steve caught sight of a pair of piercing blue eyes. It was Billy staring straight at him. Steve looked away, then he rolled his eyes up towards the ceiling. God, Sally was really going at it. Steve felt a little weird about her red lipstick that was gonna end up all over his neck and stain the collar of his shirt. He felt eyes on him, and he had a hunch it was Billy. He tried to not look over at the blonde, but eventually he gave in. Billy had an unreadable expression on his face. 

“You seem so distracted Steve” Sally squeaked. “What’s wrong? Are you not enjoying this?” 

“No, I’m just-“ He looked over and Billy had disappeared off the dance floor. 

“Sorry, I gotta go” then Steve exited out of the gymnasium doors. He walked down the hallways, then out the front door hoping to find Billy there. He spotted Billy’s car, but the blonde boy was nowhere to be seen. 

Dammit, he was probably fucking around with Miss. Neon Pink with the 6 inch heels in the janitor's closet or some shit. Steve felt like a mess, he sat on the stairs outside of school for a few minutes then decided it was time to go home. He was about to hop in to his BMW, when all of a sudden he got a whiff of cigarette smoke coming from behind him. 

_It was Billy._

“Harrington, watchu doing out here?” the blonde blew a trail of smoke towards him. 

“Could ask you the same thing.”

“Shit was getting kinda boring, man did I tell you how ugly the chicks at your school are?”

Steve stared at him. 

“Like I’m serious, the best looking chick here.. probably equates to about a solid 4 at my old school down in Cali”. 

“That’s great Hargrove, why don’t you just head back there?” Steve rolled his eyes. 

“I would if I could” the blonde boy retorted. He started fidgeting with his lighter. Then he looked over at the brunette boy standing in front of him. “You had one of the fairly decent chicks smooching you up in there, shouldn't you be at second base with miss perky baker, why the hell you sitting out here for?” he taunted Steve. 

“Cut the bullshit Billy, you know _why_ ”. 

The blonde boy walked closer to him inch by inch..until Steve could feel his breath on his face. It made him a little anxious. 

“No I don’t, please Elaborate _Steve_ ”. He said, almost in a whisper. 

The arsehole was doing that dirty flirty tone he does with half the chicks he talked to in school. 

“Do you _like_ me Steve?” 

The brunette pursed his lips, crap- Hargrove was being a lot bolder than he thought. This also might’ve be a trap. He honestly didn’t know what to say back to the guy in front of him. 

Billy grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him across the school’s parking lot. 

“Wh-What are you doing?” Steve stammered. 

“You talk too much, pretty boy.” 

Once they both reached the Camaro, Billy opened the door and pushed Steve into his back seat. 

“Wait-“ Steve looked at him hesitantly. “I’ve never done this before.”

“Done what before?” Billy said in a teasing tone. 

“You know-been with another guy.” Steve stared up at him with his huge brown doe eyes. “I’m just kinda..nervous”. 

Billy stared at him for a little bit. “That’s alright, we don’t have to-“ 

Then Steve got up, pulled Billy by his collar and crashed their lips together. As much as he enjoyed his reputation of _King Steve,_ he had truly only made out with about three other girls in his life, including Nancy. He wasn’t this experienced play-boy that the school made him out to be. He knew he had virtually no experience in this department compared to Billy and it scared him that the blonde might call him out on it. So he tried to make it all rough and fast. He thought Billy would probably like that. 

Billy pulled back from the kiss and started chuckling. _Shit-_ Steve felt a panic coming up. What if this had all been some sort of joke. What if Billy didn’t really like him and was just trying to find out if he was some faggot, he was totally going to get beat up now. The blonde boy tipped Steve’s chin back up to meet his gaze. Then he beamed a smiled at him, one that nearly took Steve’s breath away. 

“Slow down Princess” Then he proceeded to bring his lips to Steve’s again. It was gentle and sort of sweet. Billy kissed him all nice and cutesy like how they do it in the movies. Then he pushed Steve’s hair back, and planted a peck on his forehead. “I ain’t going nowhere”.


	2. Chapter 2

Steve felt all giddy the entire weekend. He couldn’t stop thinking about Billy. About that _kiss._

He didn’t realize how nervous he was about seeing the other boy again until Monday morning came rolling around. He got out of bed and _might_ have taken a little extra time with his Farrah Fawcett hair spray. 

_“Hey Billy! How was your weekend?”_

He practiced in the mirror. 

Okay.. way too over-the-top.

 _“Hargrove.. S’up dude?”_

Lame..

_“HEY BRO! NICE SHIRT! WANNA MAKE OUT SOMETIME AGAIN?”_

He cringed as he imagined a horrified look on the other boy’s face. Hahahahaha.

 

He wonders if Billy had been thinking about him too. What if he hasn’t? Did that whole thing in the parking lot even happen? 

What if Steve had crossed paths in to another dimension and none of that really happened? Or the _Billy_ he saw that night of the school dance had been some extraterrestrial shape-shifter that escaped from the upside down. 

Then, he would strike up a conversation with the _real Billy_ today and it would be like walking in to a trap. 

Steve did a silent prayer.

****

By the time he arrived at school, the front lot was empty with the exception of a few junkies bumming out by the dumpster. He was late. _Curse that Farrah Fawcett hairspray for taking so long to dry!_ But hey.. at least he looked pretty good today. 

His heart skipped a beat when he passed by Billy’s Camaro in the parking lot. 

_The same car that he had been in just three nights ago._

He peeked through the back window. 

_The same seats that he had been planted on while Billy was planting one on him._

 

History class was boring as usual. The dreariness of how the American revolution had inspired the French revolution, which in turn inspired the Irish Revolution… made it all the easier to day-dream about other things. Things with a certain set of ocean blue eyes and dirty blonde curls. Mr. Harris had picked on him a few times just because he had been late today. What a dickbag, s’not like Steve wasn’t late every other day as well. The guy should be used to it by now. 

Next up was English class which he absolutely dreaded. 

Mostly because Nancy would be there. Her and her beautiful nerdy brain that landed her a year ahead in senior English. Sometimes, Steve wondered what it felt like to be smart. 

“Hi Steve, how are you?” 

She still spoke to him as if she was walking on eggshells. Technically, she did cheat on him with good ol’ Jonathan, and if she wanted to feel guilty about it, Steve couldn’t be bothered to tell her otherwise. 

“Good.” He said a little too blunt. 

“So I heard you and Sally went to the dance together” she looked too delighted, “I’m really glad to see you getting out there again”

“Nanc-“

 

“Steve, I want you to be happy.” 

 

The genuineness in her voice made Steve want to roll his eyes. She was patronizing him. 

 

“ALRIGHT CLASS, Settle down..settle down. Turn to Act two, Scene two…” 

He silently thanked Mr. Johnson for his immaculate timing as Nancy rushed to her seat. 

He found himself staring at the clock a little too often. Lunch was right around the corner, and that was kind of how he imagined meeting up with Billy again. 

He’d pass by his lockers and .. well he didn’t know exactly what would happen. Perhaps Billy would be the first one to talk, or he would have to pull out one of the handful of lame openers he conjured up in his head this morning. He hoped it would be the former. 

_BRRRINNNGGG BRRINNNGGG BRINGGGGG!_

That jolted Steve out of his day-dreaming. 

“Remember to finish Act three by tomorrow..Please be prepared to….” Mr. Johnson’s voice faded away as Steve rushed out the class doors. 

All of a sudden, a pang of anxiety had caused him to re-route away as far as possible from where Billy’s lockers were. _HolyshitHolyshit new plan!_ …he doesn’t want to see the other boy. He’s not ready yet. If Billy were right in front of him right now, he would be one gigantic fumbly mess and _that_ is not attractive. He decided the library would be the perfect place to hide out- Billy probably didn’t even know the school _had_ a library. 

He hurried his pace and almost ran straight in to someone— 

“STEVE!” 

 

It was _Sally._

 

“Oh— hi Sally, what’s up?” He shifted his eyes nervously around the hallway to make sure that Billy wasn’t around. 

“What’s UP?” 

She repeated and stared at him like he was a crazy person. “You wanna tell me why you ran away on Friday? Do you know how embarrassing that is for me Steve…like so not rad.”

Steve scratched his head and looked at her apologetically. He didn’t know how he was getting out of this one.

“Y’know Brad?”

 

“Coleman?”

 

“Yes..Brad Coleman. He asked me out to the dance. Did you know that Steve? Brad wanted me, but I still chose you”. 

 

“Sally _please_ -“

 

“No Steve, listen to me. You made me look like a total ass out there. How could you do that to me??!” 

She looked like she was one step away from breaking down in tears. 

 

He closed his eyes and let out a sigh. “Okay Sally, listen. I had… like some weird stomach flu. I didn’t want to tell you because I was embarrassed.”

 

Her face suddenly lit up. “OH MY GOD Steve!"

She did her demented goat laugh again. 

"What a funny misunderstanding..Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

 

“Yeah anyways, gotta run!” 

 

Sally held him back with her perfectly manicured fingers. 

“You think I care about these things Stevie? I totally don’t.”

 

She started gushing about how much she appreciated Steve as a human being while he stood there idly with his hand on his cheek nodding his head. She mumbled something about a cheerleading meet she had to attend now but how she totally wanted to see Steve after-school. 

“Okay, Later!” He dashed off. 

 

***

After slamming his locker door shut, Tommy started approaching him. 

_Dear God,_ there was no escaping these people. 

 

“Steve man! Hold up! Where you going?”

 

“Now’s not the time Tom..”

 

“Wait! - I need to talk to you about something.”

 

Steve walked a little faster as the other boy fell behind. 

 

“Hold up Steve! I need to ask you something about Billy!” 

 

Steve froze— 

“What about _him?_ ” His voice faltered a little despite him trying to hide it. 

 

“Okay.. so get this. Bruno--“

 

“Bruno the Pothead?”

 

“Yeah, what other Bruno is there? Anyways he said—” and then Tommy huffed out a chuckle “He said he saw you and _Hargrove_ making out in the back of his car!”. 

 

Steve’s heart just about stopped. 

 

Tommy slapped his hands on his back, he was still cracking up “Ridiculous! Amirite?” 

….HahahahahaHAHAHAHA!!! .. Steve laughed along and tried his best not to come off like some manic person. “Wh-Why What.. That piece of shit! What’s he making up this bullshit for?” he tried his best to sound pissed off. 

Tommy finally stopped shaking his head and laughing like this was the funniest thing in the world.

“Idunno man, told him to watch his mouth unless he wanted a fist in it”. 

 

“Um..Thanks..” Steve managed to muster out. 

 

“No problem, I got your back bro. Anyways, me and Carol are headed over to Miner-Dunn for a burger. You down?”

 

“Nah, I gotta catch up on some English stuff”. 

 

“Sure! You’ll know where to find us if you change your mind.”

As much as Tommy was an asshole, he was glad there was some advantage of being on his good side. 

Ever since his break-up with Nancy, the little punk had automatically invited himself back in to Steve’s life. He knew this could've gone down a way different route, and that Tommy could have fueled those rumors if he wanted to. Steve made a mental note to be nicer to the guy. He's glad that 15 years of friendship will get you a little loyalty. 

 

***

 

When he got to the library, he picked a nice quiet table near the back. He didn’t want nobody seeing him sulking in here on his own time. Honestly, he was surprised to find that people actually came here during lunch. Ha! What _Losers_.. he thought as he sat there himself with his Hamlet book opened wide. 

_Jheesuz, did people really talk like this back then, or was Shakespeare just tryna fuck with English students of the future._

 

“Am I dreaming, or is that you, Harrington?” 

 

He didn’t have to look up to know who’s voice that belonged to. 

 

Steve tried his best to keep a neutral expression on his face. 

 

“Nope… it’s me”. He silently cursed at himself for that lame response. 

 

“Wow Steve, is that a book in your hand? Didn’t know you knew how to read!” 

 

The blonde put a hand over his mouth and gasped mockingly at him. 

 

“Ha. ha. Very funny. It’s for English class.”

 

He grabbed the book out of Steve’s hands.

 

“Hamlet eh?”

 

Steve nodded. 

 

“Which part you on?”

 

“…Act three.”

 

_“To be, or not to be?”_

 

“Huh?” 

 

Billy grinned at him. 

 

“Oh- Is that like a line from the book or something?

 

“What part of the book you _really_ on Steven?”

 

“I’m— well I was gonna catch up today. That’s why I’m here. At the library. During lunch.”

 

Billy swiftly pulled out the seat across the table facing Steve, and sat down and placed his elbows on the table with his chin rested in his hands. He was staring intently at Steve. 

“How do you even know lines from Hamlet, aren’t you in Junoir year?”

 

“Learned that shit back in Cali, they swapped the literature pieces between school districts I guess..”

 

“Oh..”

 

“Y’now there’s a scene by scene guide by Asimov, if you’re finding it hard to blow through the story.”

 

“Is that what you used?”

 

“Nah, didn’t need it. My ex used that shit all the time. Got her a solid B in class.”

 

“And what’d you get?”. 

 

“A minus- woulda gotten myself an A if I actually went to class I bet”.

 

Steve smirked amusedly. 

 

“So you some sort of undercover nerd Hargrove?” 

 

“What can I say, Imma man of beauty — and brains.” He winked. 

 

Steve tried not to look too impressed. 

“You’re actually the first guy I’ve met who likes Shakespeare.”

 

“Who said anything about liking the old sod. Still think it’s boring as shit.” 

Billy was doodling on one of Steve’s notebooks. 

 

“So what do you like?” 

Steve swears he had only meant it as an innocent literary question but the way Billy glanced up and smirked made him think otherwise. 

 

“I like … a lot of things” 

His gaze was intensely fixed on Steve’s face. 

 

Steve’s breath hitched. 

“Oh yeah..like what?”

 

The other boy shifted towards the table, and leaned closer and closer towards Steve’s face, his eyes gazing over Steve’s lips for a brief second. 

 

“Steve?”

 

He heard Nancy Wheeler call him from a few feet away. 

Steve swore in his head. There was a great cosmic joke that was being played on him today. 

She started walking towards his table and quickly gave a weird stare at Billy before turning her focus on to Steve. 

Billy had already reclined back on his seat looking as cool and collected as ever. 

 

“Do you mind if I talk to you… over there?” She nudged her head towards the couches a couple of feet away. 

Steve sighed and got up.

 

“What do you want Nancy” he said crossing his arms. 

 

“Is Billy Hargrove bothering you again?”

She whispered sharply, as if Billy wouldn’t have heard her from three feet away. 

 

“No Nance, he’s my friend okay”. 

 

She frowned at him and her eyebrows furrowed on top of those huge glassy eyes of her. 

“Steve, this guy has been tormenting you since day one”

 

“Huh? well.. I guess not anymore!”

 

“He has bad news written all over him- wait a minute-Oh my god, Steve.. Are you like.. doing marijuana with him or something…?

 

“Am I— What? Nancy, you’re being ridiculous.”

 

“Oh my god..oh no.. You feel hurt, so you’re finding outlets to lash out. I’m so sorry Steve- but this is a very slippery path you’re on. I’m so sorry I hurt you.”

 

Steve snorted.

“Have you ever considered.. maybe just for a second, that not everything is about you Nancy? Maybe I’m doing perfectly fine. Maybe even better now that you’re with Johnny boy. So please, take that heroic ex girlfriend act of yours and just _LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!_ ”. 

Nancy’s mouth gaped opened as if Steve had just slapped her in the face. She looked like she was going to say something back. But instead, she stopped, shook her head at Steve like _he_ was the asshole in this situation and stormed away. 

He turned around towards his table and realized Billy had already left. 

_Great._ He didn’t know when he would get the chance to see the other boy again. He moped back on to the desk and prepared to pack up his belongings and leave. 

Before he closed his notebook, he saw a random doodle of a man holding up a skull with a crown on the corner of his page. 

Steve couldn’t stop grinning like a madman. 

On the bottom of the page, scribbled in dark blue handwriting was 

_See u later pretty boy._


End file.
